Kentucky lawmakers shocked to find evolution in biology tests

State wants KY-specific ACTs; a politician says of evolution: "Darwin made it up."

A report surfaced this week that suggests Kentucky legislators may be experiencing a sort of cognitive dissonance that is likely to be a preview of things we can expect elsewhere. After dictating that schools in the state include tests based on national standards, the state lawmakers were shocked to find that evolution made a prominent appearance on the science tests. The same legislative body was considering undercutting evolution less than two years ago, so this may have come as a bit of a surprise.

It really shouldn't have.

Nationally, the No Child Left Behind Act has dictated that there needs to be standards for educational performance, and standardized tests will be used to make sure those standards are met. Although that push started with basics like math and language, national science standards were also called for. Many states have since implemented them; the Kentucky legislature apparently adopted the national standards in 2009. ACT, a company that creates and manages standardized testing, was contracted to handle the science tests.

Given that evolution is extremely well supported and provides the central organizing idea of biology, ACT's tests featured it heavily. That made a number of the state legislators rather unhappy, and gave them the chance to demonstrate that they should not be setting education policy.

"I would hope that creationism is presented as a theory in the classroom, in a science classroom, alongside evolution," the Lexington Herald-Leader quotes Senator David Givens as saying. Givens is apparently unaware that creationism is not a theory, and that the Supreme Court has ruled that teaching it is a violation of the establishment clause.

The same report quotes Representative Ben Waide, who demonstrated his lack of scientific knowledge by saying, "The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science—Darwin made it up." Waide went on to say that "Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny."

The legislators apparently asked ACT whether it could create a Kentucky-specific version of the test; one that, presumably, would be a sort of formal recognition of the state's distaste for mainstream science. They were told, however, that doing so would be prohibitively expensive.

Kentucky is hardly the only state that has issues with evolution, though. Both Louisiana and Tennessee have passed laws that specifically target the teaching of evolution. These state-level efforts, however, are now running up against national science standards that accurately depict evolution's status as a well-supported scientific theory. Kentucky will certainly not be the last state where the conflict between local desires and national standards ends up creating problems.

How can we remind these sorts of people that "gravity" is just a theory, but like Evolution there's a lot of evidence that the theory is sound. We could put up an alternative of "Intelligent Falling" which postulates that the world is suffused with an infinite number of invisible angels that push things gently downwards, but the theory of gravity seems a bit simpler - Occam's Razor favours it.

How can we remind these sorts of people that "gravity" is just a theory, but like Evolution there's a lot of evidence that the theory is sound. We could put up an alternative of "Intelligent Falling" which postulates that the world is suffused with an infinite number of invisible angels that push things gently downwards, but the theory of gravity seems a bit simpler - Occam's Razor favours it.

I am rather sorry to say that more and more instances of this kind of thinking are going to be popping up. Missouri (of which I am a resident) just overwhelmingly passed the Missouri Public Prayer Amendment, which among other things, <a href="au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/missouri-s-deceptive-amendment-2-passes-will-lawsuits-follow">opens the door for coercive prayer and proselytizing in public schools, allows students to skip homework if it offends their religious beliefs and infringes on the religious liberty rights of prisoners. </a>

Edit: I give up, stupid hyperlink doesn't want to work. Sorry.

Editor Moonshark says:

Sorry, we need to make it more clear how to do it but it's like this: {url=http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/missouri-s-deceptive-amendment-2-passes-will-lawsuits-follow}Name of link goes here{/url} but replace { with [ and don't forget the http://! So like this.

Where is the US American intellectual elite in such cases? I ever only hear of such nutjobs, but surely there must be some intellectual authorities in the US who can stand up publicly against these kind of shenanigans?

I am by no means an atheist, but religion doesn't have anything to do with science, and it scares me that everywhere in the world - not just the US - religion is being used to question science more and more each day.

Fidelacchius wrote:

[...] the Missouri Public Prayer Amendment, which [...] allows students to skip homework if it offends their religious beliefs [...]

I seriously just want to put my fist through my cubicle wall when I read articles like this. I don't know why I do it to myself.

+1 ...thought the same thing. What's wrong with our lawmakers!? Seriously! I get that they what to over an alternative theory, but, the science is sound and we've used it to predict a great many things...by skeptical, not stupid....

The fact we are still having these debates in states is ridiculous. Creationism has NO PLACE in schools. None. It belongs in a religion class and if you want your kid to go to a religion class GREAT send them to Sunday school or whatever but stop foisting your ridiculous beliefs on everyone else. The other commenters are right, its shouldn't be a shock to anyone why our country is going down the tubes or why our nations science and math skills are abysmal.

Where is the US American intellectual elite in such cases? I ever only hear of such nutjobs, but surely there must be some intellectual authorities in the US who can stand up publicly against these kind of shenanigans?

I am by no means an atheist, but religion doesn't have anything to do with science, and it scares me that everywhere in the world - not just the US - religion is being used to question science more and more each day.

Fidelacchius wrote:

[...] the Missouri Public Prayer Amendment, which [...] allows students to skip homework if it offends their religious beliefs [...]

So now it's "My God ate my homework"? :S

well, its not news when someone states that evolution should be taught.

"The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science—Darwin made it up." Waide went on to say that "Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny."

I almost wish that I were back in high-school so that I could fight against this as a student.

I still don't understand how a state-sponsored teaching of a christian mythology is remotely constitutional.

And before people jump on me for that: yes, I know it is perfectly legal to teach about religions in public schools. Over the years (in public middle school, high-school, and college) I learned plenty about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, voodoo, Norse mythology, Australian aboriginal beliefs, Mayan theology, and of course that of the Greeks and Romans and bits and pieces of a dozen others. I value what I learned in all of those studies, but they never encroached on any other subjects. The difference is that they were taught in anthropology classes, not science classes. And to my teachers' credit they were never presented as the truth; it was always presented as an investigation into another culture's beliefs.

Who do you mean - the ones for evolution or the ones against? Which side should move? Which side gets to decide what's normal in Kentucky?

Also, do you mean that nobody has the right to try and change something about their state? Or country? should everybody just up and leave? If you don't like the burqa, just move out of Saudi-Arabia - no need for revolution?

"The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science—Darwin made it up." Waide went on to say that "Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny."

When you have an education system undercut as much as it is by a tax credit as Kentucky is...one has to only wonder a little at its failings. These asshats makes stupid decisions all the time. It should be shown as such and be driven from office. Not for having a belief, but believing against all the evidence that this is the "truth" and to formulate a way to make it happen to the detriment of the state and country.

I almost wish that I were back in high-school so that I could fight against this as a student.

I still don't understand how a state-sponsored teaching of a christian mythology is remotely constitutional.

And before people jump on me for that: yes, I know it is perfectly legal to teach about religions in public schools. Over the years (in public middle school, high-school, and college) I learned plenty about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, voodoo, Norse mythology, Australian aboriginal beliefs, Mayan theology, and of course that of the Greeks and Romans and bits and pieces of a dozen others. I value what I learned in all of those studies, but they never encroached on any other subjects. The difference is that they were taught in anthropology classes, not science classes. And to my teachers' credit they were never presented as the truth; it was always presented as an investigation into another culture's beliefs.

You are absolutely right.

Christian beliefs should be taught the same exact way as a study into a culture/way of life nothing more and nothing less. It should not be taught like its any more or less relevant than any other belief.

Yes, because picking up and moving state, especially in such an anemic job market, is just sooooooo easy.

Are you willing to pay the expenses for anyone that wants to leave and doesn't have the money? If not, shut the hell up.

We actually do have quite a bit of mobility in this country. There was a mass exodus from the south of blacks moving into the west (mostly California) in the 50s, and they did it with far less. My father who was a sharecropper in Mississippi did it with my grandmother and 8 other kids, so I'm pretty sure it's possible now in far easier circumstances. "Or you know, just make excuses and whine online.

I find the "if you don't pay for it shut up" thing to be hilarious though, as if everything has to be DONE for people to be possible.

Where are these 12 year olds raising themselves that you want me to look at in your example? This isn't meant to be a country where way of life in all 50 states is identical (no matter what federalists would have you believe).